The Adventure of the Naval Treaty
“It is only goodness which gives extras, and so I say again that we have much to hope from the flowers.”
The goodness of roses, stormy petrels and a shockingly good breakfast all come to play in "The Adventure of the Naval Treaty" - a perfect short story that has it all. Political intrigue! Brotherly betrayal! Practical jokes! Weird monologues!
We cover everything from Watson's old school friends to Holmes's theatricality in today's discussion.
“Phelps raised the cover…”
Listen to our narration of the story:
From The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, "The Adventure of the Naval Treaty" by Arthur Conan Doyle, narrated by William Wandless.
William H. Wandless (he/him) is a professor of English at Central Michigan University, where he gets to visit with Arthur Conan Doyle and his Victorian peers from time to time. He is also a poet and an author of speculative fiction, and he can be found on Twitter at @ArsGoetica.
Music credit: The song “Denmark (Live)” by the Portland Cello Project is featured with an Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Further reading/watching:
Sherlock Holmes, ‘Metaphysical Detective’: A Note on Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Naval Treaty” and Alfred Tennyson’s “Flower in the Crannied Wall” by Nils Clausson
The Sherlockian by Graham Moore
The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis
Our recommendations from SECO, which fit the foreign espionage theme in NAVA too:
The Americans (FX)
The Imitation Game dir. Morten Tyldum
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History Podcast - “Blueprint for Armaggedon”